The Strangers
by Jade27
Summary: Saylon, a girl disguised from birth as a boy, meets jedi in the woods. But... what are they doing on this planet. No foriegners are allowed here; the emperor's orders. Yet they seem to think their help will be welcome and necessary... yeah... i


Disclaimers: I Do not own Star Wars or anything what so ever to do with that stuff. George Lucas is the man to thank, and thank him we shall. Yeah, Okay. Don't sue me, My piggy bank is at negative 20 dollars K? Great! On to the story.  
  
Encounters With The Deadly  
  
Saylon's keen gaze noticed the black figure among the crowd. He was just standing there, as though waiting for something important to happen and though Saylon noticed him as she would a shoe among gloves, no one else seemed to pay attention to this man, though they did give him room. Saylon was sure he was up to no good; his stance suggested malice of the cruelkind. She moved to leave the market to get away from the stranger but he looked towards her and she was frozen like a rodent who's seen a hunting bird's shadow.

Saylon looked at his cruel yellow eyes. They were creepy and only stood to enhance his painted face of red and black. Saylon could smell trouble in the air as obvious as the stale fish stench the market usually had. She left the market and went to her training grounds in the forest. It was secluded there and she needed to warm up her muscles. Not to mention the fact that she kept her training equipment there. Her master would not be pleased if she showed up for training cold with out her stuff.

Saylon, from the moment she could walk, had a grace that had shocked her aged parents. She was thin, agile, and very strong, though she didn't look it. She also had remarkable learning abilities and could accumulate knowledge rapidly with understanding. However, Saylon was born to a society that deemed only men to be worthy of weapons and honor. Saylon being a born a female was a dreadful tragedy to her parents. A daughter could do little to care for parents and were married off when they came of age.

But Saylon's mother could conceive no child after Saylon was born. With no hope for family honor in sight, the man who birthed Saylon suggested to her parents that they conceal her female sex. Her parents consented and the unisex name of Saylon was chosen. Saylon which means mystery in the old tongue.

Saylon arrived to find her training place as she had left it the day before. With her hair in the pony that was expected of all 'males', and the comfortably loose pants Saylon needed only to remove her shirt as not to cover it in sweat and sticky tree blood. In her breastband she calmed her mind and stepped up to the tree that had taken her beatings since she was a small child. The bark had long since given up growing back where Saylon had kicked till her legs felt like they would fall off. She moved into a loose fighting stance and danced around the tree hopping from one foot to the other to challenge her balance and warm up her legs. She held up her arms in a protective gesture. She danced this way for a few minutes, ducking from imaginary blows and also to avoid lower branches that hadn't been broken off yet.

When she was warm she went through her punching and kicking sequences that relieved the tension from her muscles. It did no good to show up to lessons tight. When Saylon was halfway through the sequence for the second time she was startled to hear hushed voices approaching. Panic destroyed all looseness she had worked for. With fear of being discovered a woman spurring her on, though, Saylon donned her masculine shirt in record time. She leaped silently into the tree she had been training on when the owners of the voices came into view.

"I don't understand it, Qui Gon. The map clearly says we should have found that village hours ago!"

"Patience, Padawan. The map was a gift from the emperor of Kwin hundreds of years ago. Since that time the inhabitants of this planet made it well known that it was off limit to outsiders and that contact is strictly forbidden. Much can change in such a length of time."

"What could our phantom rider want with an isolated planet?"

"Master Yoda seemed to believe that it is likely that among the people of Kwin are the descendants of the powerful but tranquil Yuketal, (Pronounced – You - keh - tahl) a woman of which I'm sure you've studied in your years as a student to the temple. It is possible that he means to exploit those who have inherited the gift of the force."

Saylon frowned. The style of fighting in which she trained was called Yuketi (you – keh – tee). The younger of the two frowned also. He was standing beneath her practice tree and examined the worn spots. Saylon's neck hair bristled when he looked up and regarded her with mild surprise in his features.

The older of the two stopped also and looked to where his 'padawan', as Saylon remembered him calling the younger, was looking; right at her.

"Well hello there." The older said with a hint of amusement in his voice. Saylon frowned. This stranger who clearly stated that he was not of her world was amused by her. Annoyed at being caught, and realizing the dangers of being in a tree should she need to defend herself, Saylon jumped the ten feet from the tree to land gracefully in front of the younger of strangers.

She regarded the two men before her and analyzed them as she would a sparing partner. The taller and older of the two had long wavy hair and a neatly kept gray beard, such of which Saylon had never seen before because facial hair was believed to be a sign of laziness to her people. He looked graceful and well built beneath his tan colored garments which Saylon decided were eerily similar to the training gear she was wearing.

The other stranger, who had now been mentally classified as 'Padawan', was much younger than the older and slightly shorter. Hehad close cropped hair that signified a traitor in Saylon's mind. Traitors were forced to cut their hair short and banished from all villages under the Emperor's rule. If Saylon was caught for disguising herself as a boy she would have to cut her hair, wear a dress and remain within her father's village to bring shame to her family when ever eyes were lain upon her. Her people were very strict in their traditions. It was odd to Saylon that this boy wore his hair cut short and did not hide it with his hood. He was around her age, she guessed, halfway between a child and an adult.

Saylon stared at the older man with a blank face but the man spoke on as if she were offering him a cup of tea. "I am Qui-Gon Jin and this is my apprentice Obi Wan Kenobi." The two bowed with respect and out of habit Saylon bowed back beeper as the Qui Gon, although a foreigner, was still her senior and required respect.

"I am Saylon." She said.

The boy Obi Wan smiled gently "It is nice to meet you." He said. "In fact it is nice to meet anyone. We are lost."

Saylon smiled in spite of herself. She was charmed by this boy's honesty. "Which place do you seek and why? She asked.

"We seek a place called Kwinsten, I believe that is the capitol city is it not?"

Saylon nodded. "Has been so for a long time. Why do you seek the capitol of a planet on which you are foreigners? Are you not aware what becomes of trespassers?"

Qui Gon nodded his head seriously. "We are well aware of the dangers we have entered ourselves into but we seek to remove a greater danger that is also a stranger to your planet. Your emperor will receive us when he learns where we have come from."

Saylon frowned. There was much information missing in what the stranger said, but it was not her place to be judge and jury. "I cannot take you to the capitol," she said. "Nor can I tell you how to get there. The laws of my people decree that I must escort you to my superiors who will decide what shall become of you." She paused a moment unsure of herself. "Will you agree to this?" she asked.

Qui Gon nodded, as did Obi Wan. Saylon bowed and walked in the direction of the village. She hoped that the other stranger was gone by now. Until this day strangers had never been seen in the quiet village of Seetan. She hoped they brought no trouble with them.


End file.
